Peyton Manning with former Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase during a game against the Kansas City Chiefs in 2014. (Steve Nehf, The Denver Post)

Peyton Manning may be retired, but he can’t stray too far from the game.

According to the Miami Herald, Manning met with his former offensive coordinator and new Dolphins head coach Adam Gase in Miami earlier this spring at the team’s headquarters and offered some advice to quarterback Ryan Tannehill.

The visit, wrote Barry Jackson, was all Manning’s idea.

Manning worked with Gase for his first three seasons in Denver before the Broncos’ coaching overhaul in January 2015. With Gase as his coordinator, Manning shattered multiple passing records in 2013, including 5,477 passing yards and 55 touchdowns to earn his fifth MVP award and led the Broncos to Super Bowl XLVIII.Read more…

Former Broncos guard Chris Kuper was hired by the Dolphins as their offensive quality control coach. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

Former Broncos guard Chris Kuper has been hired by the Dolphins as their offensive quality control coach, reuniting him with former offensive coordinator Adam Gase.

“It’s great,” said Kuper, 33. “To be in a team setting is something I’ve always enjoyed and plan on thriving in it.”

Kuper, 2006 fifth-round draft pick by the Broncos, played eight seasons in Denver before retiring in March 2014, shortly after the Broncos’ loss to Seattle in Super Bowl XLVIII. A string of injuries, including a dislocated ankle that required multiple surgeries and never fully healed, forced Kuper to the sidelines prematurely. But he didn’t stray too far.

Former Broncos coach John Fox with cornerbacks Bradley Roby and Chris Harris late last season. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

The Broncos’ Week 11 game at Chicago is not just another game. Not with Brock Osweiler making his first career start. Not with Peyton Manning missing his first start in 57 games. Not with the Broncos coming off two losses and their two worst offensive showings this season.

And certainly not with former coach John Fox and offensive coordinator Adam Gase standing on the opposite sideline.

If you’re keeping track of all the storylines, that means Sunday’s game at Chicago will be an audition, the end of a streak, a shot at redemption, a chance at revenge and a reunion.

Broncos players are aware of them all.

“It’s going to be weird,” outside linebacker Von Miller said of facing Fox. ‘It’s the same as like seeing (Raiders head coach) Jack (Del Rio) across the side. We obviously had a special relationship when he was here. I was his first pick (in the 2011 NFL draft), so he loved me before I loved him.

“I don’t think the old man is around mad about not having an opportunity over here anymore when you’ve got a great organization over there with Chicago. I think he was kind of upset at first, but I don’t think he’s just keeping a grudge against anybody. Coach Fox — he’s a great guy. He’s trying to get Chicago in the best position that he can possibly be in.”

Cornerback Chris Harris agrees. But he, too, knows there’s more at play this week.

“It’s going to definitely be great to see him, but he’s the enemy,” Harris said. “He wants to beat us bad. He wants to get revenge on us. We know that we have to bring our A-game. We know it’s personal for them over there. We know we have to be ready.”

Broncos running back C.J. Anderson became the breakout star of the team’s offense in 2014. (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)

Adam Gase, the former Broncos offensive coordinator who now works with John Fox in Chicago, met with Chicago media Friday after the team’s first rookie mini camp practice was asked about everything from the Jay Cutler-Peyton Manning comparison, to rookie Kevin White, to the team’s rotation of running backs.

But he also took a little jab as his former running back in Denver.

“In Denver — C.J. (Anderson) would hate me for saying this — but he got tired and was a little chubby sometimes,” Gase said. “I mean, he got worn down quick and then we had to rotate backs in last year.”

At this point, it’s fair to wonder if the Chicago Bears will feature predominantly orange in their uniforms next season. Jason George joins a host of former Broncos’ employees reuniting with coach John Fox in Chicago.

John Fox and the Broncos agreed to part ways after four seasons. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

Former Broncos head coach John Fox is in Chicago interviewing for the same position with the Chicago Bears on Wednesday.

The expectation is Fox will become the Bears’ 15th head coach (counting George Halas, who had three separate terms, once).

Jack Del Rio, who remains under contract with the Broncos as their defensive coordinator, is still in the Oakland-area following his all-day interview Tuesday with Raiders owner Mark Davis, general manager Reggie McKenzie and consultant John Madden.

An NFL source said a deal between Del Rio and the Raiders is expected to get done, although negotiations had yet to begin as of early Wednesday morning.

Adam Gase, who is under contract with the Broncos as their offensive coordinator, had a second interview Tuesday with San Francisco 49ers general manager Trent Baalke in the Denver area.

Brock Osweiler scrambles before finding Virgil Green in the end zone late in the Broncos’ victory over the Raiders. (Tim Rasmussen, The Denver Post)

Brock Osweiler’s touchdown pass to Virgil Green with about two minutes remaining in Denver’s victory over the Raiders on Sunday has been well-documented: Osweiler first finds Green for a 38-yard catch up the middle on third-and-10. Then, three plays later on third-and-1, hits him in the right corner of the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown.

It was the first score for both of them, and it had been in the works for months now, thanks to Peyton Manning.

On Monday, when asked about the touchdown, Osweiler told reporters that he was relieved it was finally behind him, while also admitting he had some help. The play was called by Manning.

But wait. It gets better.

“I know Brock’s been waiting forever,” Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase said Wednesday. “Every time he would go in he’s like, ‘We’re throwing it, right?’ And I’m like, ‘No.’ You try to give him a little bit of hope. It was good that coach (John) Fox gave us a green light. The starting quarterback was killing me that we weren’t going to throw it there on the third-and-1. He talked Fox into it. He knew what Virg could do. It was a good call by Peyton.”Read more…

Those three teams have one thing in common: Talented quarterbacks who have led their teams to at least one conference championship game but are coming off disappointing seasons. Cutler has been perhaps the NFL’s most underachieving quarterback the past three years.

A first-round draft choice of the Broncos in 2006, Cutler earned a Pro-Bowl berth in 2008. But when the Broncos fired longtime coach Mike Shanahan after the 2008 season, Cutler demanded to be traded both in the days before and weeks after the team hired Josh McDaniels as their new coach and head of football operations.Read more…

Peyton Manning’s less-than-stellar performances in recent weeks has led to speculation about his health and age. (Tim Rasmussen, The Denver Post)

As The Post’s Mike Klis wrote Thursday, Peyton Manning is pressured constantly to be not only good but great. He’s set the bar that high with his list of records and jaw-dropping plays over the years.

So when he doesn’t always look like the quarterback who can throw 55 touchdowns and 340-something yards per game in a season, the responses are typically: “Oh no, something’s wrong with Peyton.” “He’s slipping.” “He doesn’t have it anymore.”

“It’s comical to me,” Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase told reporters Thursday. “We heard the same thing about (Tom) Brady and he’s been ripping the league apart since then. You never doubt players of this caliber, I know that. I’m pretty sure every defensive coordinator is not thinking that.”

Thomas, who has been one of the Broncos’ most lethal weapons on offense this season, leads the league in receiving touchdowns (10). But on Sunday, he was targeted just twice for 33 yards and didn’t get his first look until the third quarter. Meanwhile, Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski compiled 105 yards on nine receptions with one touchdown and a one-handed grab that had even his quarterback in awe.

He broke Brett Favre’s record for touchdown passes. He increased his career total to 510. No. 509 will be remembered. After Manning embarrassed himself by tripping on second down for a sack, he called the same play. Wide receiver Demaryius Thomas ran a corner route, screened the corner and kept his feet inbounds for the record.Read more…

Broncos coaches not named John Fox spoke to reporters at length following practice Thursday. And Adam Gase, the team’s offensive coordinator, was rather straightforward when asked about the Broncos’ running game, with their young set of backs, and how the offense has handled having to play a pair of solid defenses — Seattle last Thursday and San Francisco this coming Sunday — in their first two preseason games.

Here’s what Gase had to say:

On what he’s seen from the running game:
“For the most part, we’re a little more downhill this year. We do stretch it some but probably not as much as we were trying to last year. We’re using a little more of our gap schemes and running some power plays which has really developed a little bit different attitude for us. It makes it a little easier on our guys to say, ‘Hey, I’m just coming off the ball, and we’re going to be downhill.’”

On if the running game can help the defense:
“I think for what we’re doing right now, especially with our defense, they would say we’re probably running the ball better, and our downhill running game is probably helping them because now they’re seeing what they’re probably going to see in the regular season. I think it’s helping both sides of the ball.”

Nicki Jhabvala is a Broncos beat writer for The Denver Post. She was previously the digital news editor for sports. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor. She also spent two years as a home page editor at the New York Times.